The invention relates generally to the subject of flood water removal and in particular to automatic sump pumps.
Flooded basements are a frequent enough occurrence in many areas that sump pumps are necessary. The typical basement sump pump comprises a submersible impeller type pump disposed in a well-like hole or sump formed through the basement floor. The pump is powered by an electrical motor connected to house current. The water outlet or exit tube of the pump extends upward and out through an opening in an adjacent basement wall. The water pumped from the basement rarely exits more than ten feet above the inlet of the pump. Literally millions of such sump pumps are installed throughout the United States. However, many do not have sufficient capacity to remove incoming flood water. Thus, the flood level continues to rise despite the operation of the sump pump. All of them share the same vulnerability to an electrical power failure. Occurrences of power failures, while rare, frequently accompany violent storms and flooding. Thus, existing sump pumps can be woefully inadequate when flooding is accompanied by even a temporary outage or when flood waters rapidly intrude upon a low-lying area with an unusually high water table.
In the past, the only safeguards available have been expensive backup systems. A battery backup system with a DC motor pump is expensive and typically has sufficient battery capacity for removal of only on the order of 7,000 gallons. If flooding continues and the batteries are depleted, the backup system is effectively nonexistent. Gas powered generators for supplying backup electrical power are extremely expensive and like all combustion engines, require periodic maintenance.
Without adequate protection from existing sump pump installations, homeowners in areas plagued by habitual basement flooding are constantly imperilled by the threat of serious water damage for which adequate insurance coverage is usually unavailable.